


Dance of Death

by Verdic



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: DNDecember
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 09:16:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13187022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verdic/pseuds/Verdic
Summary: My favorite spell and ritual. Otto's Irresistible Dance. I have taken the ritual method of it from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. While in D&D (the original place of it), the spell only lasts as long as you play the music. In the WHFR, once the incredibly difficult ritual starts, it only stops when the last person to be effected dies. Anyone other than the caster who hears the music must pass a wisdom save or start dancing. If they touch a dancer, they have to pass a wisdom save or start dancing. Once they start dancing, they do not stop until they are dead, no matter the condition of their feet or legs. You can see how gruesome this can get. Be thankful I didn't write the aftermath of it. I'm glad I don't have to write that and then read it as I edit it.





	Dance of Death

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Gailen asked Lynx. 

“I’ve been searching three times a day for the past three weeks.” Lynx placed a hand on Gailen’s shoulder. “Everything points to the boots being here.”

“Mage Lynx speaks the truth.” Gemini gave a brow smile. “This land seems to be in the grips of a terrible plague. The local leaders are gathering for a party. Among all of the entertainment, there is a dancing contest. If there is anywhere those boots are headed, that is the place.” 

“You’re right.” Gailen nodded. She held out an invitation. “Good thing that I have a noble heritage and stole us an invitation.” She winked at them. “Now, you two will have to treat me like a countess. Lynx, you are going to be my consort, as it says here. Gemini, you are my footman.” Lynx rolled his eyes.

Gailen looked at him, a hand on her hip. “What, you don’t want to dote on your countess? You are my consort and I have the power. Don’t worry, I won’t abuse my powers.” Her eyes twinkled with glee.

“Yes, my lady.” Gemini said, already adapting to the situation. They continued to walk along the trail. After a few hours they come out of the woods and looked upon their destination, a large castle on a cliff. There was a long gap between the cliff the citadel stood on and the rest of the area. It looked like they could remove the bridge and isolate the castle at any time.

It might provide useful for them isolated. There was a massive plague running rampant through the land. Entire villages would die off in a matter of days. If that was not bad enough, this was the fifth year of a drought. Many people were starving, making it harder for them to survive the the plague. There had been a few revolts already as anger finally boiled over. They had been savagely suppressed by the nobility. 

 

“Halt, who are you?” The guard called out. The party stopped and winced. Even the soldiers of the duke were underfed and looked sickly. 

“I am the Countess Gailen Pumana of Elderbough.” Gailen strode forwards and looked down her nose at the man. He shuffled back and looked at a list in his hands. He pursed his lips. Before he could finish his thought, Lynx cast a spell from the back of the group and changed the page. The man blinked and re-read the list. 

“Ah, Countess Pumana, welcome. You have only come with two people?” The man asked.

“Yes, they are all I need to stay safe here.” She said, walking past the man. “Sweetheart, make sure they know we are here. Gemini, please come and make up the room for me.” Lynx and Gemini shared a smile as they went into the castle.   
Lynx turned himself invisible. He wandered around the castle. In the central room, all of the guests had gathered. There was music and laughing, talking and boasting, dancing and feasting. Near the top of the stairs, there was a chamberlain with a list. Lynx snuck up on him and changed the list so that they were included. Taking a deep breath, he cast another spell and a copy of the list appeared in his hands. Flipping through the pages, he saw that the entertainer for the evening had been changed at the last minute. Letting the conjured image fall away, Lynx slunk off to find where they were staying. 

“Gemini, can you make this room more…” Gailen searched for the appropriate word.

“I understand what you want my Lady.” Gemini said. They immediately went to work making the room secure so that no light or noise could leave the room. Gailen fell back onto the bed, sighing as she felt so comfortable. It had been nearly a year since she had slept in such a soft bed. Maybe if they had time, she would make sure Lynx and her used it well. 

Lynx knocked on the door. Gemini quickly opened it and reset the protective barriers. “What did you find Mage Lynx?” 

“Well, other than most of the nobility of this dutchy are here tonight? I found two things.” Lynx kept his voice low. Gailen motioned him to join her on the bed. He smiled and fell onto the bed, resting his head on her stomach. Before his head touched her, she quickly squirmed out of the way and his head landed her on thighs. 

“What are they?” She asked, trying to keep the conversation going. 

“One is that the main entertainer has changed just this evening, and the second.” Lynx took a deep breath. “The other is that we are not the only uninvited guest. It took me a few times of counting, but there is one extra person. I have no idea who they are.” 

“This could present a challenge. Perhaps we should look at everyone’s feet.” Gemini suggested. The others looked at them and chuckled. “It is the most efficient way to find them.”

“Perhaps we look at the people who are uninvited guests first, little Gem.” Gailen replied. “Let’s start with the entertainer. From what I heard, the musician who was supposed to be here was the best in the land. If they replaced them like this, then the new person must be very good.” 

“I shall follow the uninvited guest.” Gemini said. They grabbed their crossbow and slipped out of the room.

“Well, let’s go meet the musician.” Gailen said, trying to get up.

“Not yet.” Lynx placed a gentle hand on her stomach. “You normally let me rest my head here. Why not now?”  
“Lynx, we don’t have time for this...no, I should tell you. I’m late. This will be the second one too.” She looked into his eyes, then where his hand was placed. Lynx’s eyes went wide, a smile breaking out on his face. “And no, I will not stop. We are so close to finishing this job and then we can go home.” Lynx merely nodded.

“Then lets get home.” He smiled.

 

Gemini was able to move through the castle unobserved. Not only were they silent, but when they stood still they looked like one of the statues. Gemini took a quick photo of the main hall and examined the photo. There was no one who shouldn’t be there. Gemini knew Lynx wasn’t a liar and that they were immensely intelligent too. Perhaps the person went to a different room. Gemini continued to snoop around the castle. After an hour of seeing the common areas, Lynx could not find the extra person. 

Lynx and Gailen walked as if they had been invited to meet the entertainer. They had to ask around a little to find his room, but when they got to it, it was deserted. There wasn’t even any indication that anyone had been in the room for the past week. 

“Where is the entertainer? I was asked to be here and he is not here.” She asked the guard. Lynx always enjoyed watching Gailen take charge. The guard looked confused.

“He is in there m’lady.” The guard pointed into the empty room. Gailen and Lynx looked at each other. Lynx nodded and cast a subtle spell. He nodded again. The guard was under an illusion. They walked away from the room, slightly worried. Things were starting to not add up. They wandered around the castle till the ran into Gemini again.

“Did you find anything?” Gemini asked. They all shook their heads. “Mage Lynx, I was unable to see a trace of the uninvited guest. Nor were any of the people wearing the boots.”

“I think we should go back and check out the entertainer's room. There was something fishy there.” Lynx said. They headed back to the entertainer’s room. The guard, still cowed from the last time, didn’t say anything. 

“Look around. See if there is anything here.” Gailen said. They split up in the rooms. Their initial assumption was wrong. Someone had been here. They had been staying in the room for at least a month, judging by all of the clothing that was still in the suite. Then there was the final bedroom. There was a dead body. It looked like a minstrel, by the clothing on the corpse. 

“Where is the instrument?” Gemini asked. They all looked around the room. There was no instrument around. “Lynx, what might this mean?” The others looked at Gemini, worried with their sudden lack of formality. Lynx waved for them to leave the room. He remained silent until they had reached their room and he had made sure they were well secured.

“Ok, we have some uninvited guests, we have a sudden change of musicians, some of the most wonderful boots in existence, and what should be an instrument of unsurpassed quality, if the stories of that Minstral were to be believed.” Lynx sat down and thought. He quickly pulled out his spellbook and flipped through it. “It seems that they are making a spell, but what spell I can’t figure out.” He started to fall into a meditation. He woke up after a few seconds. “I can feel the tug of power coming from the main hall.”

They raced out of the room and sprinted to the party. Before they got there, they heard a terrifying melody coming from the main room. Gailen and Lynx fell to their knees, body’s shaking and sweating. 

“Gemini, please, get us out of here.” Gailen cried out. Not understanding what was happening, Gemini grabbed both of them and pulled them back till the music was gone. Lynx and Gailen stopped shaking. “Thank you.”

“Stay here. I can turn my audio receptors off. This will not hurt me.” Gemini smiled at them. “Protect your baby. I will get what we need.” Lynx put out his hands. 

“No, we are going.” He said. He pulled out some wax. “With this, we can get in there.” They stuffed wax into their ears and continued their charge into the main hall.

The hall was filled with people dancing. They were dancing alone or in pairs. Some people were sitting or standing and laughing at the people who were dancing. Most of them were making fools of themselves. However, when a dancer would touch a new person, that person would start dancing. It wasn’t until over half of the people were dancing without consent that people started to panic. 

At one corner of the room, there was an elevated platform with a musician and a dancer. Gemini noticed that the boots they were looking for were on the dancer’s feet. Lifting their crossbow, Gemini shot the dancer. The impact of the shot blew his body apart. 

Summoning all his concentration, Lynx summoned his unseen servant. Using mental commands, he had the air elemental float through the crowd and grabbed the boots. It came back, dropping the boots occasionally. The trio smiled at each other. They were about to go home. As they grabbed the boots, they ran from the room. 

“Stealing those boots won’t stop this!” The musician shouted. Somehow he had teleported in front of them. “Otto’s Irresistible Dance will kill them all for their decadence. They will dance themselves to death.” 

The group looked at each other. “That is ok.” Lynx said. “We are here for these. The people in that room probably deserved it.” The musician looked at them, confused. He was even more confused when they teleported away.

 

“Do you have my shoes?” Shmeshka asked them.

“Here, take them and let us go home.” Lynx said, handing them over. 

“Of course. GO home and raise your child you two.” She handed them a small sack. “Payment for your troubles.” They were gone in an instant. “And you, dear Gemini, take this.” She handed them a metal box. It was locked with no visible means of opening. “Figure this out and you can do so much more. Do tell your friends to have plenty of fun.” And she teleported Gemini back into the room where Rina and Richard were in a compromising position. Gemini smiled at them. They were home, after so many years, they were home.


End file.
